Labor & Employment Law

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

Union Gospel Mission of Yakima Washington v. Brown — Ninth Circuit to Reconsider En Banc Whether Religious Employers Can Require Staff to Share Their Faith

automatic / June 18, 2026

The full Ninth Circuit has agreed to rehear en banc a case about whether states can force religious nonprofits to hire employees who don't share their faith, vacating a panel opinion that had protected a Christian shelter's faith-based hiring practices.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Div. of Occupational Safety & Health v. Uber Technologies, Inc. — Court of Appeal Upholds Cal/OSHA’s Power to Subpoena Uber Over Gig Worker’s On-the-Job Death

automatic / June 18, 2026

California's Second Appellate District held that Cal/OSHA can compel Uber to produce records about a deceased Uber Eats driver's employment status even without first proving the driver was an employee, but remanded for narrowing of overbroad document requests.

4th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Taduran v. Glidewell Dental — Court Affirms Per-Employee Reduction Method for PAGA Penalties and Negative Lodestar Multiplier on Attorney Fees

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Fourth District affirmed a PAGA judgment in which the trial court reduced penalties on a per-employee (not per-pay-period) basis and applied a 0.70 downward multiplier to the attorney fee lodestar, holding that neither the PAGA statute nor applicable precedent limits the court's discretion on either point.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

American Federation of Government Employees v. Trump — Ninth Circuit Vacates Injunction Against Executive Order Stripping Federal Agency Unions of Collective Bargaining Rights

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacated a district court injunction that had blocked President Trump's Executive Order 14,251 — which stripped roughly 800,000 federal employees across multiple agencies of collective bargaining rights on national security grounds — holding that the unions failed to show a likelihood of success on their First Amendment retaliation claim.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Doss v. Tesla — Factory Yard Hostlers Who Move Interstate Trailers Are Exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act

automatic / June 11, 2026

Tesla's yard hostlers — who move 53-foot interstate trailers within factory grounds to facilitate unloading — are 'transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce' exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, the First District held, because their work is a necessary step in completing an interstate delivery.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Orr v. United States District Court (C.D. Cal.) — Ninth Circuit Holds Courts Must Decide FAA vs. State Law Before Compelling Arbitration

automatic / June 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit grants a UPS delivery driver a writ of mandamus requiring the district court to first determine whether the FAA or California Arbitration Act governs her employment agreement before compelling arbitration — a threshold question courts cannot punt to arbitrators.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Askins v. CRST Expedited — California Courts Do Not Require Concrete Injury for Standing Under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act

automatic / June 4, 2026

The First District Court of Appeal held that California plaintiffs may pursue statutory damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act without proving concrete injury, departing from the Fifth District's Limon decision and reversing a class decertification order.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

People of California v. FMCSA — Ninth Circuit Upholds Federal Preemption of California Meal and Rest Break Rules for Bus Drivers

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied California's petition for review of the FMCSA's determination that California's meal and rest break rules are preempted as applied to drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles, extending the preemption previously upheld for property-carrying vehicles.

5th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Cortina v. North American Title Co. — Appellate Court Reverses 19-Year Wage-and-Hour Class Action Over Trial Errors

automatic / May 29, 2026

The Fifth District reverses a 19-year wage-and-hour class action over improper judicial reference and flawed statistical sampling, reinforcing Duran's rigorous requirements for misclassification class trials.

4th District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment Law

Guild Mortgage v. CrossCountry Mortgage — Court Revives Claims Against Rival That Orchestrated Branch Defection, Rejects CUTSA Displacement

automatic / May 27, 2026

The Fourth District revives claims against a rival mortgage company that allegedly orchestrated a branch defection scheme, holding that all employees owe a duty of loyalty and that CUTSA does not displace interference or computer fraud claims.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Husband v. Target Corporation — Employer Not Charged with Knowledge of Undisclosed Bipolar Disorder Based on Erratic Behavior Alone

automatic / May 21, 2026

Second District holds that an employee's erratic and irrational behavior at work — including statements about killing his stepmother and inanimate objects laughing at him — did not charge employer with knowledge of a mental disability under FEHA, because disability was not the 'only reasonable interpretation' of the behavior.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

Dept. of Human Resources v. CCPOA — Court of Appeal Upholds Arbitrator’s Award Reversing Union Rep’s 60-Day Suspension

automatic / May 15, 2026

The Third District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court and upheld an arbitrator’s award that set aside a correctional officer’s 60-day suspension, holding that the award did not contravene any explicit public policy despite conflicting with the State Personnel Board’s earlier ruling.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

Reges v. Cauce — Ninth Circuit Rules University Violated Professor’s First Amendment Rights Over Syllabus Land Acknowledgment Protest

automatic / May 14, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that a public university violated a professor's First Amendment rights by investigating and reprimanding him for inserting a counter-statement to a recommended land acknowledgment in his syllabus.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Gibbs v. County of Humboldt — County Liable for Failing to Enroll Employee in CalPERS and Losing Personnel Records

automatic / May 13, 2026

California appeals court holds that Humboldt County can be sued for failing to enroll a 40-year court reporter in CalPERS and losing her personnel records, establishing that pension enrollment and record-keeping are mandatory duties enforceable under Government Code section 815.6.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law

Cardenas v. L.A. Unified School District — Appeal of COVID Vaccine Mandate Ruling Forfeited for Failure to Cite Record Evidence

automatic / May 11, 2026

Second District affirms summary judgment for LAUSD in a COVID-19 vaccine mandate challenge after school safety officers forfeited their appeal by failing to cite any record evidence in their opening brief.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

Williams v. Legacy Health — Ninth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Against COVID-Vaccine Religious-Exemption Plaintiffs Under Groff Undue-Hardship Test

automatic / May 6, 2026

The Ninth Circuit applies the Groff undue-hardship test and affirms summary judgment for a regional healthcare system that denied COVID-19 vaccination religious exemptions to nine clinical employees during the Delta-variant surge.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Toothman v. Redwood Toxicology Laboratory — 1st District Says Direct Employer Cannot Enforce Arbitration Clause Signed with Temp Agency

automatic / May 5, 2026

First District holds that a direct employer cannot enforce an arbitration agreement the worker originally signed with a temporary staffing agency, where the worker's claims arose entirely from the direct-employment period that started after the temp placement ended.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Vela v. Harbor Rail Services — Court of Appeal Affirms Arbitration of Railcar Repairman’s Wage Claims, Including Class Waiver

automatic / May 1, 2026

California Court of Appeal holds that a railcar repairman doing stationary maintenance work in a Wilmington rail yard is not a 'transportation worker' exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, so his class action waiver is enforceable.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Stoker v. Blue Origin — Blue Origin Arbitration Agreement Substantively and Procedurally Unconscionable; Severance Not Appropriate

automatic / April 24, 2026

Second District affirms denial of Blue Origin's motion to compel arbitration of former employee's FEHA sexual harassment and other claims, holding that the arbitration agreement is both substantively and procedurally unconscionable due to lack of mutuality and one-sided carve-outs, and that severance is not appropriate.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Santana v. Studebaker Health Care Center — Multiple Arbitration Documents With Minor Ambiguities Form Enforceable Agreement

automatic / April 22, 2026

Second District reverses denial of motion to compel arbitration in nursing facility wage and hour class action, holding that three arbitration-related onboarding documents must be construed together and form an enforceable agreement despite minor ambiguities and the typical procedural unconscionability of an adhesion contract.

5th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Martinez v. Sierra Lifestar — Defenses Common to All Class Members Cannot Defeat Typicality of Class Representative’s Claim

automatic / April 21, 2026

Fifth District reverses denial of class certification in wage and hour case challenging exclusion of nondiscretionary bonuses from the regular rate of pay, holding that defenses common to all class members do not defeat typicality of the class representative's claim.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Gessele v. Jack in the Box — Ninth Circuit reverses key wage-and-hour rulings, restoring class claims for shortened meal breaks and shoe-cost deductions under Oregon law

automatic / April 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reverses key rulings in a long-running Jack in the Box wage-and-hour class action, restoring class claims for shortened meal breaks under Oregon law and for non-slip shoe deductions, and ordering a trial on whether overdeductions for the Oregon Workers' Benefit Fund were willful.

6th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Paknad v. Superior Court — Employer’s Avoidable Consequences Defense Waives Work Product Protection for Investigator’s Factual Findings

automatic / April 17, 2026

Sixth District grants second writ of mandate, holding that an employer that raised the avoidable consequences defense waived work product protection over the investigator's factual findings, and that allowing redactions of all factual findings exceeded the scope of any remaining work product protection.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

Gonzales v. Battelle Energy Alliance — Ninth Circuit holds that revoking a Security Police Officer’s fitness-for-duty certification is reviewable under the ADA, distinguishing it from a national-security clearance

automatic / April 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that a federal contractor's revocation of a Security Police Officer's Part 1046 fitness-for-duty certification is reviewable under the ADA and is not the kind of national-security clearance decision insulated from review under Department of Navy v. Egan.

4th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Walton v. Victor Valley Community College District — Nursing Student May Pursue FEHA, Education Code, and Government Claims Against District for Faculty Sexual Harassment

automatic / April 15, 2026

Fourth District reverses summary judgment for community college district on nursing student's sexual harassment claims, holding that the student has standing under FEHA, that her detailed pre-litigation letter substantially complied with the Government Claims Act, and that triable issues exist on her Education Code section 66270 deliberate indifference claim.